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Here’s the 2008 Year in Review Video:

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/2683224[/vimeo]

Blake and I have made some pretty impressive slideshows in the last few weeks.  When people see them, they ask, “Is that more of that Mac magic you are always throwing down?” 

Surprisingly, this time the answer is “no.”

It’s a web-based program Blake found called Animoto.com that allows you to upload pictures and music and then – Voila – a killer slideshow.  You have to pay to make one longer than 30 seconds (3$ a video or 30$ a year).  But if you do this sort of thing often, it’s well worth it.

Here’s another example:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wNnaYKG3b8[/youtube]

You can also download them to your computer, upload them straight to YouTube or embed them from Animoto iteself.

I love twitter.  I wont lie about it.  Not only is it a fun way to keep up with my friends and other news, but now that I sit at the end of another year, it’s a great way to take a look back.  

So here it is, my life over the last year in reverse order in 140 letters or less…

I’m dreaming of a dry Christmas. 8:14 AM Dec 20th from web

just spazzed out about getting furniture stain on my carpet. fixed with paint thinner. 5:50 PM Dec 19th from web         

Celebrating 3 years of marriage. 5:42 PM Dec 13th from txt

Driving our new car home from Southaven. 6:33 PM Nov 25th from txt

Taking a break from the misery of car shopping to enjoy the misery of TARGET. 3:07 PM Nov 21st from txt

It’s tenderness is refutable; it’s loiny-ness, debatable. 8:52 AM Nov 15thfrom txt

(more…)

The Local Voice: 2008 Election Results for Lafayette County, Mississippi.

Just in case you wondered.

I have a new internet buddy.  His name is oliver and one of his many hobbies is visiting churches and blogging about it.

Oliver is one of a few contributors for the Mississippi Atheist Blog and last Sunday he came to the Orchard in Oxford.  Here’s 99% of it (read the whole post here):

The Orchard (not to be confused with The Orchard in Tupelo) is a small Methodist church that meets in The Powerhouse, which is the community center for the Yoknapatawpha Arts Council. The sign in the front of The Powerhouse says that The Orchard is “A Church for Everyone.” That’s a pretty lofty goal once considering that “everyone” includes people from non-Christian religions as well as non-believers. (more…)

The Rebels have made it on the cover of Sports Illustrated and Ole Shep is excited.

In honor of his alma mater’s victory and good press, he’s wearing much less make-up than he usually does.  Almost looks like a real live human.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=An6oFGQcwXY

a video we showed at church yesterday.  

pretty cool.  watch carefully.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsPBVNecOMo

From Granger.

Revisiting the Past – although this week’s big success should put some of the ugly part of Oxford’s history behind us, a video that my buddy Jeff sent me is one last reminder of what happened in 1962.

Bob Scheiffer

[The Debate] was the first time I had been back there on that campus since 1962

Of all the stories I’ve covered, including the war in Vietnam, the most terrifying experience I ever had was on that night on the campus of Ole Miss when a riot broke out.

Watch the rest of the Video here.  Make sure to stick around to the end to see all the nice things he says about our town.

Present: Debate Pictures – Here and here are some great shots from around the event.

The Future – The excitement continues this week with Palin and Biden squaring off in the first and only VP debate at Washington University in St. Louis.  A buddy of mine who worked with journalists during our debate in Oxford said that nearly 3,500 press credentials were requested.  Already, nearly 7,000 journalists have requested access to this one in St. Louis.  Should be very interesting.

This is a great action shot of me and Sarah reaching across the aisle.

My final thoughts on the Debate…

The atmosphere: Incredible.  The whole town was milling around, very excitedly.  It was almost surreal.  My family went to the Grove and enjoyed great music and even better weather.  There was a Rock The Vote guy who said the ‘F’ Word and made my grandmother make a weird face.  There was also slam poetry about being green.

The security: Tight.  Lots of guards and big trucks at both entrances to the Green Zone around the Ford Center.  We had to walk all around town to get to the Grove from the Square.

The event:  It seemed to go off without a hitch (or atleast without any more hitches).  To be honest, I was a little bored with the exchange.  Would have been a little bit more exciting if I hadn’t heard so many of their speeches on XM.  Sometimes, I felt like they were just taking turns giving their stump talk (right down to the punch lines).  I wish Lehrer would have been a little more tenacious.

Winner: Hard to say.  I thought Obama seemed the most confident and agressive (in a good way), so it was probably him.

Overall: The months of overtime and hardwork really paid off for the University and the Town.  I thought Oxford/Ole Miss looked great on the National Stage.  AND it was a great event for us locals to enjoy too.

This long local nightmare is over:

http://thepage.time.com/2008/09/26/mccain-headed-to-debate/

See you at the viewing party tonight!